Preparation method of gel shell for electrophoresis gel

Abstract

The present invention is a method for preparing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel to prevent leakage during the preparation of the electrophoresis gel, comprising: (a) providing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel, comprising a first plate, a second plate and a plurality of spacer components, wherein the first plate and the second plate respectively comprise an upper edge, a lower edge, a left edge, a right edge, an inner side surface and an outer side surface, and when the inner side surfaces of the first plate and the second plate are parallelly and correspondingly combined, a plurality of spacer components are arranged on the left and right sides between the first plate and the second plate to form an electrophoresis gel accommodating space; (b) a bonding step of bonding the first plate, the second plate and the plurality of spacer components; and (c) a cutting step of cutting an overlapping portion of the lower side of the first plate and the second plate to form a continuous plane structure at the lower edge of the first plate and the second plate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a method for preparing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel, in particular to a method for preventing leakage during preparation of the electrophoresis gel by forming a continuous plane structure at the bottom of the gel shell through a cutting step. Background Art

[0002] Electrophoresis is a method commonly used in the field of molecular biology to identify and separate biomacromolecules. Its principle is to use the differences in molecular weight and charge value between different biomacromolecules to make these molecules propagate differently in the medium under the influence of the electric field, and then separate these different biomacromolecules in the process to facilitate molecular biology identification.

[0003] The medium commonly used to separate biomacromolecules in electrophoresis is electrophoresis gel, which is usually flat and has regularly spaced pores to accommodate the macromolecules to be tested. Electrophoresis gels are generally divided into two main types: agarose gel and polyacrylamide gel. Agarose gel is relatively easy to make, and its main component comes from polysaccharide polymers in seaweed. Although the pore size of agarose gel is not very uniform, it is better than polyacrylamide gel for separating DNA fragments and proteins larger than 200kDa. Compared with agarose gel, polyacrylamide gel has a relatively smaller and more uniform pore size, so it is generally suitable for separating proteins. In addition, polyacrylamide gel generally has better resolution and is therefore more expensive than agarose gel. It should be noted that polyacrylamide gel powder is toxic and should be used with caution.

[0004] In the past, most labs used to prepare their own electrophoresis gels, but soon everyone discovered the benefits of using pre-made electrophoresis gels: they save time and are more likely to produce accurate and consistent results. Pre-made electrophoresis gels are prepared by assembling the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel and sealing the bottom of the gel shell with tape to prevent the liquid matrix used to prepare the gel from leaking out. However, the most difficult problem to overcome is that when the bottom of the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel cannot form a continuous flat structure, the liquid matrix used to prepare the gel will still leak out even if it is sealed with tape.

[0005] There are currently some methods for making electrophoresis gel shells to avoid leakage of liquid matrix used to prepare gels. For example, Bio-Rad has established an integrally formed window pane structure at the bottom of the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel to avoid an uneven bottom when the gel shell is assembled. For example, there is another design in which after the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel is assembled, the bottom is rolled flat with a hot roller. However, the risks of this design are increased costs and insufficient product yield. Summary of the invention

[0006] With respect to the prior art, a further improved method is currently needed to form a continuous planar structure at the bottom of the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel, which can effectively improve the product yield and reduce the production cost.

[0007] The present invention is a method for preparing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel to prevent leakage during the preparation of the electrophoresis gel, comprising: (a) providing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel, comprising a first plate, a second plate and a plurality of spacer components, wherein the first plate and the second plate respectively comprise an upper edge, a lower edge, a left edge, a right edge, an inner side surface and an outer side surface, and when the inner side surfaces of the first plate and the second plate are parallelly and correspondingly combined, a plurality of spacer components are arranged on the left and right sides between the first plate and the second plate to form an electrophoresis gel accommodating space; (b) a bonding step of bonding the first plate, the second plate and the plurality of spacer components; and (c) a cutting step of using a cutting tool to cut off the overlapping portion of the lower side of the first plate and the second plate to form a continuous plane structure at the lower edge of the first plate and the second plate.

[0008] One embodiment of the present invention further comprises step (d): providing a sealing component for sealing the continuous planar structure at the lower edges of the first plate and the second plate.

[0009] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sealing component is sealed by tape, clay, seal, glue, hydrogel, or vaseline.

[0010] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cutting tool is a diamond knife, a laser knife, a water knife, a saw, a high-speed saw blade, a planer, or a high-speed planer for cutting.

[0011] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bonding step is to align the upper edge, lower edge, left edge and right edge of the first flat plate and the second flat plate before bonding.

[0012] In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of spacer components are disposed on the left and right sides of the inner side surfaces of the first plate and / or the second plate.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of spacer components are integrally formed with the first flat plate or the second flat plate.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bonding step is performed by bonding with an adhesive or ultrasonic oscillation melting.

[0015] The gel shell of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention may further include at least one protrusion disposed at a suitable position on the upper or lower side of the inner side of the first plate or the second plate to bond the first plate and the second plate and maintain the electrophoresis gel accommodating space.

[0016] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, before the cutting step, the at least one protrusion is further bonded to the first plate or the second plate.

[0017] The present invention has different applicable cutting tools according to different materials of the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 The implementation steps of the present invention are: Figure 1 A is a gel shell for providing an electrophoresis gel; Figure 1 B is the bonding step; Figure 1 C is the excision step.

[0019] Figure 2 The present invention provides a continuous planar structure after the cutting step, and provides a sealing component to seal the continuous planar structure to prevent leakage of the liquid matrix for preparing the gel.

[0020] Figure 3 The shell of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention comprises at least one lower protrusion.

[0021] Figure 4 The embodiment shown is that the shell of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention includes at least one upper protrusion.

[0022] Description of reference numerals:

[0023] (a) providing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel; (b) a bonding step; (c) a cutting step;

[0024] 1 gel shell of electrophoresis gel; 10 first plate; 101 upper edge of the first plate; 102 lower edge of the first plate; 103 right edge of the first plate; 104 left edge of the first plate; 105 inner side of the first plate; 106 outer side of the first plate;

[0025] 20 second plate; 201 upper edge of the second plate; 202 lower edge of the second plate; 203 right edge of the second plate; 204 left edge of the second plate; 205 outer side surface of the second plate; 206 inner side surface of the second plate;

[0026] 30 spacer assembly; 301 ridge; 302 groove

[0027] 40 Removal tool

[0028] 41 Overlap

[0029] 50 Continuous Plane Construction

[0030] 60 Sealing components

[0031] 70 Lower protrusion

[0032] 80 Upper protrusion

[0033] 90 Positioning assembly. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] The technical solution of the present invention is further described below by specific embodiments, which do not limit the protection scope of the present invention. Some non-essential modifications and adjustments made by others based on the concept of the present invention still fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0035] The invention discloses a method for preparing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel, the purpose of which is to prevent leakage during preparation of the electrophoresis gel. The main feature of the method is that a continuous plane structure can be formed at the bottom of the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel so that a sealing component can be tightly sealed to the bottom of the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel.

[0036] The present invention Figure 1 As shown, it includes providing a gel shell (a) of electrophoresis gel, wherein the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel includes two parallel plates, such as Figure 1 As shown, the two parallel plates are respectively a first plate 10 and a second plate 20, the first plate 10 has an upper edge 101 of the first plate, a lower edge 102 of the first plate, a right edge 103 of the first plate, a left edge 104 of the first plate, an inner side surface 105 of the first plate and an outer side surface 106 of the first plate, similarly, the second plate 20 also has an upper edge 201 of the second plate, a lower edge 202 of the second plate, a right edge 203 of the second plate, a left edge 204 of the second plate, an outer side surface 205 of the second plate and an inner side surface 206 of the second plate, when the inner side surfaces of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 are parallelly and correspondingly combined, a plurality of spacer components 30 are provided on the left and right sides between the first plate 10 and the second plate 20, wherein the plurality of spacer components 30 are respectively provided with ridges 301 on the left and right sides of the inner side surface of the first plate 10 and corresponding grooves 302 on the left and right sides of the inner side surface of the second plate 20, when the inner side surfaces of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 are as shown Figure 2When the two plates are combined in parallel in the manner shown, the ridge 301 and the groove 302 can be combined correspondingly to form a space for accommodating the electrophoretic colloid; a bonding step (b) bonding the first plate 10, the second plate 20 and the plurality of spacer components 30; and a cutting step (c) using a cutting tool 40 to cut off the overlapping portion 41 on the lower side of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20, thereby forming a continuous planar structure 50 at the lower edge of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20.

[0037] Preferably, the plurality of spacer components 30 of the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel are arranged on the left and right sides of the inner side surfaces of the first plate 10 and / or the second plate 20; more preferably, the plurality of spacer components 30 are integrally formed with the first plate 10 or the second plate 20.

[0038] The bonding step of the present invention is to bond by means of an adhesive or ultrasonic oscillation melting. Preferably, Figure 1 As shown in the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel and the bonding step (b), the bonding step of the present invention is to first align the upper edge, lower edge, left edge and right edge of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 through at least one positioning component 90 arranged on the left and right sides of the inner side surfaces of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 beside the multiple spacer components 30, and then bond the first plate 10, the second plate 20 and the multiple spacer components 30 by ultrasonic oscillation melting.

[0039] After the cutting step (c) of the present invention, a continuous plane structure 50 is formed at the lower edge of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 of the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel, and further as shown in FIG. Figure 2 As shown, the present invention further comprises a step of providing a sealing component 60 for sealing the lower edge of the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel.

[0040] In an embodiment of the present invention, the sealing component is sealed by tape, clay, seal, glue, hydrogel, or vaseline. More preferably, the sealing component is tape.

[0041] In a preferred embodiment, the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention may also include at least one upper protrusion disposed at an appropriate upper position on the inner side surface of the first plate 10 or the second plate 20 or at least one lower protrusion disposed at an appropriate lower position on the inner side surface of the first plate 10 or the second plate 20, so as to bond the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 and maintain the electrophoresis gel accommodating space.

[0042] More preferably, in the bonding step, the upper edge, lower edge, left edge and right edge of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 are aligned first, and then the first plate 10, the second plate 20, the plurality of spacer components 30 and the at least one upper protrusion or the at least one lower protrusion are bonded by ultrasonic oscillation melting. In this way, it can be ensured that the structure of the present invention can be kept fixed during the cutting step, and a continuous planar structure 50 is further successfully formed at the lower edge of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 of the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel.

[0043] In a preferred embodiment, the at least one upper protrusion is a plurality of upper protrusions; and the at least one lower protrusion is a plurality of lower protrusions.

[0044] like Figure 3 As shown, the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention includes a plurality of lower protrusions 70. When the first plate 10, the second plate 20, the plurality of spacer components 30 and the plurality of lower protrusions 70 are bonded by ultrasonic oscillation melting, the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 can be stably bonded, and after cutting, a continuous plane structure 50 is stably formed at the lower edge of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 of the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel, and then sealed by a sealing component 60.

[0045] Preferably, the lower protrusion 70 is disposed on the inner side of the first plate 10 or the second plate 20 and is a place where the electrophoresis sample on the lower side will not flow during the electrophoresis process.

[0046] like Figure 4 As shown, the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention further includes a plurality of upper protrusions 80. When the first plate 10, the second plate 20, the plurality of spacer components 30 and the plurality of upper protrusions 80 are bonded by ultrasonic oscillation melting, the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 can be stably bonded, and after cutting, a continuous plane structure 50 is stably formed at the lower edge of the first plate 10 and the second plate 20 of the gel shell 1 of the electrophoresis gel, and then sealed by a sealing component 60.

[0047] Preferably, the upper protrusion 80 is disposed on the upper side of the inner side surface of the first plate 10 or the second plate 20 and is located where the electrophoresis sample will not flow during the electrophoresis process.

[0048] In an embodiment of the present invention, the cutting tool is a diamond knife, a laser knife, a water knife, a saw, a high-speed saw blade, a planer, or a high-speed planer for cutting, but different applicable cutting steps still need to be selected according to the different materials of the gel shell of the electrophoresis gel.

[0049] When the shell of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention is made of plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylic, polylactic acid (PLA), polystyrene (PS), polypropylene (PP), styrene-acrylonitrile resin (AS), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS), polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or polyethylene (PE), a suitable cutting tool is a diamond knife, a laser knife, a water jet, a saw, a high-speed saw blade, a planer, or a high-speed planer for cutting.

[0050] When the shell of the electrophoresis gel of the present invention is made of glass, a suitable cutting tool is a water knife, a saw, a high-speed saw blade, a planer, a high-speed planer, or a diamond knife for cutting.

Claims

1. A method for preparing a gel shell of an electrophoresis gel to prevent leakage during preparation of the electrophoresis gel, the steps comprising: (a) Provided is a gel shell for electrophoresis gel, comprising a first plate, a second plate and a plurality of spacer components, wherein the first plate and the second plate respectively comprise an upper edge, a lower edge, a left edge, a right edge, an inner side surface and an outer side surface, and when the inner side surfaces of the first plate and the second plate are parallelly and correspondingly assembled, a plurality of spacer components are arranged on the left and right sides between the first plate and the second plate to form an electrophoresis gel accommodating space; (b) A bonding step of bonding the first plate, the second plate and the plurality of spacer components; (c) A cutting step, using a cutting tool to cut off the overlapping portion of the lower side of the first plate and the second plate, so as to form a continuous plane structure at the lower edge of the first plate and the second plate; Among them, the multiple spacing components have ridges on the left and right sides of the inner side of the first plate and corresponding grooves on the left and right sides of the inner side of the second plate. When the inner sides of the first plate and the second plate are combined in parallel, the ridges and the grooves can be combined correspondingly.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The ridges extend from the top of the first plate to the bottom of the first plate, and the grooves extend from the top of the second plate to the bottom of the second plate.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The cutting direction of the cutting step is perpendicular to the extending direction of the ridges and the grooves.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises the step (d): providing a sealing component for sealing the continuous planar structure of the lower edges of the first plate and the second plate.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that The sealing component is sealed by using tape, clay, sealing strip, glue, hydrogel or vaseline.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The cutting tool is a diamond knife, a laser knife, a water knife, a saw, a high-speed saw blade, a planer or a high-speed planer for cutting.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The bonding step is to align the upper edge, lower edge, left edge and right edge of the first flat plate and the second flat plate before bonding.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The plurality of spacer components are disposed on the left and right sides of the inner side surface of the first plate or the second plate.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The plurality of spacer components are disposed on the left and right sides of the inner side surfaces of the first plate and the second plate.

10. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The plurality of spacer components are integrally formed with the first plate or the second plate.

11. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The bonding step is performed by bonding with an adhesive or ultrasonic vibration melting.

12. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The lower side of the inner side surface of the first plate or the second plate comprises at least one protrusion for bonding the first plate and the second plate and maintaining the electrophoresis gel accommodating space.

13. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The upper side of the inner side surface of the first plate or the second plate comprises at least one protrusion for bonding the first plate and the second plate and maintaining the electrophoresis gel accommodating space.

14. The method according to claim 12 or claim 13, characterized in that At least one of the protrusions is formed integrally with the first plate or the second plate.

15. The method according to claim 12 or claim 13, characterized in that Before the cutting step, the at least one protrusion is bonded to the first plate or the second plate.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first plate or the second plate is made of plastic.

17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The plastic is selected from polyvinyl chloride, acrylic, polylactic acid, polystyrene, polypropylene, styrene-acrylonitrile resin, acrylonitrile-butadiene- Styrene copolymers, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate or polyethylene.

18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that The cutting tool is a diamond knife, a laser knife, a water knife, a saw, a high-speed saw blade, a planer or a high-speed planer for cutting.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein: The first plate or the second plate is made of glass.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein: The cutting tool is a water jet, a saw, a high-speed saw blade, a planer, a high-speed planer or a diamond knife for cutting.

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